Discipline Guidelines

Discipline Guidelines—The Philippines

1. Purpose

Employee performance and behavior are integral to the achievement of ESVER Office Administrative
Services’ business goals and objectives. These Discipline Guidelines set out categories of misconduct,
such categories not being exhaustive, which the Company interprets as violations of its Code of Business
Ethics, policies, guidelines and processes, and outlines the way to deal with such misconduct.

2. Coverage

Any employee, regardless of role or level, can bring a specific concern to their supervisor, career
counselor, Human Resources representative, a member of the legal group or any member of
management.

An employee can file an incident report under the Discipline Policy regarding the behavior of another
employee.

Alternatively, reports regarding the Company’s financial affairs, accounting practices, auditing matters,
corruption or fraud—and in serious cases where the vital interest of the Company or the moral or
physical integrity of our people are at stake—can be reported directly to Business Ethics Line at
___________ available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (you can reserve the charges) or by visiting the
encrypted website at _________________.

The Company will not tolerate retaliation against any employee because he or she raised such an issue or
used the Business Ethics Line (or any other appropriate channel) to report a0n ethical or legal concern.
Employees who come forward with concerns play an important role in maintaining our ethical workplace
and high-performance business.

Employees raising concerns, filing incident reports locally or reporting to the Business Ethics Line should
do so only in good faith. Raising a concern, logging an incident report (IR) or reporting an incident to the
Business Ethics Line against another employee without appropriate reason and/or evidence may be
considered an act of misconduct.

3. Roles and Responsibilities

ESVER Office Administrative Services is a high-performance business and requires all employees to
observe the Company’s Code of Business Ethics and to conduct themselves at all times professionally in
the performance of their role. Handling issues of misconduct, including the disciplining of employees, is
the responsibility of leadership assisted by people supervisors, and Human Resources, and includes the
following responsibilities:

 Employees – behave in a manner consistent with ESVER Office Administrative Services’ Code of
Business Ethics, our Core Values, understand process involved in reporting incidents that may breach
the Code of Business Ethics, policies or procedures and implementing corrective actions to acts of
misconduct,

 People Supervisors – coach and guide employees on proper behavior, investigate and, take timely
action on reports of misconduct, handle the processing of less serious cases involving their direct
reports and exercise good judgement in handling cases,

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 HR Representatives – provide guidance to people supervisors in the evaluation of incidents,

application of the appropriate corrective action/sanctions, timely and consistent processing,
resolution and documentation of disciplinary cases.

 Corporate Investigations Team – conduct investigations, or oversee and assist the HR Employee
Relations Team or HR Representative in investigating and addressing incidents, including incidents
reported through the Business Ethics Line.

 Discipline Advisory Panel (composed of members of the Leadership Team) – advise the HR
Employee Relations Team on the more serious misconduct matters, as appropriate.

 HR Employee Relations Team – educate employees on the Discipline Guidelines, assist/guide People
Supervisors and HR Representatives in the application of the Disciplines Guidelines, monitor
disciplinary cases to ensure consistency of the process and resulting sanctions, handle the processing
and resolution of more serious cases including those that may lead to termination.

4. Acts of misconduct

For the purpose of providing guidance, Appendix A sets out categories of acts of misconduct. The
categories of acts of misconduct are not intended to be exhaustive or to cover every situation or
behavior that may warrant disciplinary action.

Any conduct which the Company, in its absolute discretion, interprets as a violation of its Code of
Business Ethics, policies, guidelines or processes or is otherwise unprofessional or inappropriate may be
dealt with in accordance with these Guidelines. The Company reserves the right to investigate, conduct
a hearing and impose sanctions as warranted by the facts of each case.

The severity of the misconduct including the impact, or potential impact on ESVER Office Administrative
Services, its employees, clients and visitors contributes to the determination of the appropriate
misconduct level of the case. There are 3 levels of misconduct used in these Guidelines—minor, serious,
and grave. Each level represents progressively more severe misconduct with associated sanctions. The
descriptions provided below for each level of misconduct are not meant to be exhaustive but to provide
guidance to assist in the application of the Guidelines.

 Minor acts of misconduct include acts or omissions that do not result in significant risk to Company,
its employees, clients, service providers or visitors, but may interfere with or breach Company
standards, procedures or guidelines. Some of these acts may be dealt with informally through
coaching in the instance. If coaching takes place, disciplinary action under these Guidelines may
occur in relation to any subsequent act or omission.

 Serious acts of misconduct are more severe acts or omissions that result in significant risk to the
Company, its employees, clients, service providers or visitors. They may include matters such as, but
not limited to, security, client relations, finances, or health and safety.

 Grave acts of misconduct may include acts or omissions that result in severe risk to the Company
business, security systems, assets, or health & safety of the Company, its employees, clients, service

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providers or visitors. Grave acts of misconduct could place significant strain on the Company’s
relationship with its clients, result in legal exposure, or cast considerable doubt on the employee’s
values & integrity.

5. Sanctions

The Company reserves the right to impose progressive sanctions for multiple acts of misconduct
committed by an employee under these Guidelines regardless of whether the categories of such acts of
misconduct, or the acts of misconduct, are the same (e.g., the first act of misconduct is a Health, Safety
and Physical Security breach and the second misconduct is a Work Performance breach). The HR
Employee Relations Team must be contacted for guidance in applying progressive sanctions across
categories of acts of misconduct.

Tables 1&2 below are illustrative of the progressive sanctions that may be implemented for disciplinary
action under these Guidelines. The Company does not intend that they replace the exercise of
management discretion to implement a higher or lower level of penalty as may be warranted or justified
by the situation and circumstances of each case.

The Company reserves the right to investigate, conduct a hearing and impose sanctions as warranted
by the facts of each case and not be bound by Take 1 or Table 2.

1st Misconduct 2nd Misconduct 3rd Misconduct 4th Misconduct

Termination

Final Written
Warning

Corrective Action
Advice (CAA) with
Warning

Corrective Action
Advice (CAA)

Table 1: Example of Progressive Discipline Process

Misconduct Table of Sanctions

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Level
Minor 1st Act of misconduct: CAA up to CAA with Warning.
2nd Act of misconduct: CAA with Warning up to Final Written Warning
3rd Act of misconduct: Final Written Warning up to Termination of Employment
4th Act of misconduct: Termination of Employment
Serious 1st Act of misconduct: CAA with Warning up to Final Written Warning
2nd Act of misconduct: Final Written Warning up to Termination of Employment
3rd Act of misconduct: Termination of Employment
Grave 1st Act of misconduct: Termination of Employment

Table 2: Illustrative Table of Sanctions

The term “cleansing period” means the interval of time an earlier act of misconduct is taken into account
for purposes of determining the sanction for the subsequent act of misconduct. All records of
disciplinary matters remain in the employee’s personnel file.

Generally, minor offenses will have a cleansing period of one (1) year, while serious offenses will have a
cleansing period of two (2) years. Within these cleansing periods, discipline for any further misconduct,
whether or not it be the same misconduct, will take the prior act of misconduct into account when
considering the appropriate sanction. If the further misconduct is the same misconduct or misconduct of
the same level of severity, the discipline applied may merit application of the corresponding higher or
progressive level of sanction. Where a second act of serious misconduct occur within the cleansing
period, the cleansing period for the first serious act of misconduct will be extended to two years the date
the decision for the second serious act of misconduct was issued, except when the employee has been
terminated due to the second serious act.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the HR Employee Relations Team reserves the right to consider the
past misconduct to apply the totality rule to acts which show a clear pattern of misconduct.

6. General Principles of these Discipline Guidelines

 Disclosure:
When dealing with employee disciplinary matters, information relevant to any disciplinary
investigation or subsequent action will be disclosed only when required for the purposes of
conducting an investigation, hearing, the implementation of a sanction, the Company’s Human
Resources policies and practices or as required by law.

 Preventive Suspension:
The Company reserves the right to place an employee under preventive suspension if his or her
continued presence within the workplace poses a serious imminent threat to the life and property of
the employer or of the co-employees. Preventive suspension is not considered a sanction but a
necessary measure that the Company uses to protect itself, its employees and its clients’ interests.
Preventive suspension cannot be imposed without the prior approval of HR Employee Relations.

 Compensation during preventive suspension:

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The maximum period of preventive suspension is 30 days without pay. Should the suspension extend
beyond this period, the additional days will be taken as paid leave. If the employee is not found to
have committed the misconduct, the employee will be paid the amount salary which was not paid
during the preventive suspension period.

 Other acts:
The imposition by the Company of the sanctions provided in these Guidelines is not a waiver of the
Company’s right to file criminal, civil or administrative actions against an employee.

 Labor Code:
The grounds for dismissal or termination of employment under this policy and its procedures are
consistent with the grounds set out in Article 282 of the Labor Code of the Philippines and all
grounds for termination provided by the Labor Code of the Philippines are incorporated into
Discipline Policy and Guidelines.

 No separation pay:
Employees whose employment is terminated for misconduct are not entitled to separation pay.

 Effective Date:
These Guidelines will become effective on May 2, 2023 and replace the previous Code of Discipline
for allegations of misconduct made on or after May 2, 2023. Where an employee commits an act of
misconduct after the effective date of these Discipline Guidelines, and Company records show that
the employee has committed acts of misconduct prior to May 2, 2023, the Company reserves the
right to examine the employee’s complete history of conduct and to take the prior misconduct into
account when determining the appropriate sanction.

 Company Prerogative:
The Company reserves the right to exercise management prerogative in the interpretation,
application and enforcement of the provisions of these Discipline Guidelines and attendant policies,
procedures and practices.

7. Revisions

These Discipline Guidelines may be withdrawn, replaced or amended at any time by the Company.

Appendix A – ESVER Office Administrative Services Discipline Guidelines

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Categories of Acts of Misconduct

Each category of misconduct is for guidance only. Depending on the facts and circumstances of each
incident ESVER Office Administrative Services reserves the right to categorize the act of misconduct at
a higher or lower level and the discretion to apply a sanction at a higher or lower level.

A. Work Performance

ESVER Office Administrative Services is a high-performance organization that places emphasis on our people
maintaining high performance standards. The following are some examples of performance or behavior
considered unacceptable by the Company in relation to work performance:
1 Sleeping during work hours or training. Minor to Serious
2 Failure to comply with procedures, policies and guidelines on Time Minor to Serious
& Expense Reporting.
3 Failure to comply with assigned responsibilities such as but not Minor to Serious
limited to
a) Periodic access reviews;
b) Responsibilities with respect to exit management and project
roll-off processes;
c) Timely reporting of AWOL cases.
4 Refusal to follow or comply with reasonable and lawful work- Serious to Grave
related orders, instructions and directives.
5 Gross or habitual negligence in the performance of assigned tasks Serious to Grave
or duties
6 Other cases analogous to the foregoing Depending on the
gravity of the act

B. Attendance

ESVER Office Administrative Services’ commitment to high performance requires an ongoing commitment to
both our colleagues and our clients through punctual attendance at work. The following are some examples of
behavior considered unacceptable by the Company in relation to work attendance:
1 Failure to comply with the prescribed procedure in notifying the Minor
Company of his/her absence or tardiness.
2 Failure to report to work on time or comply with project/deal Minor
specific procedures on attendance:
a) Failure to report for work on time resulting in either an
accumulated or single occasion of tardiness of 45 minutes or
every 3 instances of tardiness, whichever comes first, within
the same calendar month shall be considered one infraction.
b) 18 accumulated instances of tardiness within a rolling 12- Grave
month period will be treated as gross and habitual neglect of
duties.
3 Unauthorized act of spending time or leaving work during official Minor to Serious
work hours to perform non-work-related activities, such as but not
limited to:
a) Under-time;

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b) Extended meal break and extended restroom breaks;

c) Loitering;
d) Malingering or pretending to be sick to avoid work;
e) Failure to comply with the requirements of flexible work
arrangements;
f) Selling or conducting personal business.
4 Any absence without authorized leave. Serious to Grave
5 Other cases analogous to the foregoing. Depending on the
gravity of the act

C. Professional Conduct

ESVER Office Administrative Services strives to attract and retain the best people, and provide an environment
in which they can develop professionally and build rewarding careers. Conduct which is harassing, abusive,
unprofessional or discourteous is not appropriate or condoned at ESVER Office Administrative Services.
Examples of unacceptable conduct are listed below. These examples are illustrative only.
1 Non-compliance with Company dress guidelines. Minor
2 Acting in a disorderly, boisterous, rowdy or unruly manner within Minor to Serious
work premises, or during Company-sponsored events that cause
disturbance to other individuals
3 Spreading or sharing disparaging or malicious information through Minor to Serious
any act or means of communication against employees
4 Discourtesy or rudeness to employees Minor to Serious
5 Taking part in any form of gambling within Company or client Serious to Grave
premises or during any Company sponsored activity or using
Company property to take part in gambling. Exception is games
authorized by leadership and organized for
project/deal/community engagement purposes.
6 Any unprofessional act committed within work premises or during Serious to Grave
Company sponsored events, including but not limited to:
a) Inappropriate acts of a sexual nature;
b) Disruptive acts that affect work operations or output.
7 Any form of dishonesty, including but not limited to: Serious to Grave
a) Misrepresentation of qualifications;
b) Misrepresentation of self as an ESVER Office Administrative
Services authorized representative;
c) Falsification of Company records or documents;
d) Cheating on time or work output records;
e) Providing any false or misleading information to any Company
employee, investigation or inquiry
8 Conviction for or involvement in any criminal offense, in which the Serious to Grave
act committed hampers one’s ability to perform assigned work
and/or is prejudicial to the interest of the Company or its
employees.
9 Engaging in any activity which is in conflict with the interest of the Serious to Grave
Company or its clients, such as but not limited to:
a) Unauthorized dual employment

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b) Unauthorized solicitation
10 Possession or use of illegal drugs, substances or paraphernalia Serious to Grave
while working, representing the Company or at an event
associated with the Company, its clients or suppliers, within the
Company or client premises or coming to work under the influence
of illegal drugs or substances.
11 Committing (or attempting to commit) reckless or intentional acts Serious to Grave
of violence that may inflict harm or injury to any person within
work premises or during Company-sponsored events. Such acts
include but are not limited to, provoking quarrels and fighting.
12 Reporting for work while under the influence of alcohol or Serious to Grave
intoxicating substance or consuming alcoholic or intoxicating drinks
within Company or client premises. An exception is the responsible
consumption of alcohol during authorized Company functions or
events.
13 Any act of harassment (sexual or otherwise); or any other Serious to Grave
threatening or intimidating behavior directed towards a colleague,
vendor, visitor or client of the Company that undermines the
confidence and self-esteem of the recipient.
14 Use of Company or client computer resources for unprofessional Serious to Grave
purposes, such as but not limited to:
a) Accessing internet sites with pornographic or inappropriate
content;
b) Downloading, storage or distribution of
profane/discriminatory/pornographic/defamatory/libelous or
other similarly inappropriate or unlawful materials.
15 Any act that constitutes abuse of authority or position Serious to Grave
16 Intentional and unintentional acts that negatively affect the Serious to Grave
Company’s and/or client’s or vendor’s reputation and goodwill
including but not limited to:
a) Any unauthorized or inappropriate usage or the ESVER Office
Administrative Services brand and/or logo
17 Other cases analogous to the foregoing Depending on the
gravity of the act

D. Protection of Property

Company employees must appropriately use and protect physical and intangible assets of ESVER Office
Administrative Services, its employees, clients, service providers and visitors. Examples of physical assets
include buildings, equipment and computers, while intangible assets include brand, reputation and proprietary
information. Examples of acts of misconduct in relations to property include but are not limited to the
following:
1 Acts that misuse or waste Company or client resources, such as but Minor to Serious
not limited to:
a) Inappropriate email signature in Company or client systems;
b) Sending mass mailings or chain letters;
c) Excessive use of Company email for non-work-related matters;
d) Excessive chatting, internet surfing or playing offline games;

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e) Excessive personal phone calls;

f) Playing online/networking games;
g) Use of client email for personal reasons;
h) Opening unauthorized websites on the internet.
2 Non compliance to Company guidelines on appropriate and Minor to Serious
responsible use of Company property such as but not limited to:
a) Leaving laptops or computers unattended;
b) Loss of Company assets due to negligence.
3 Non compliance with Company branding guidelines including but Minor to Serious
not limited to:
a) Use of Company logo in non-related media like social sites and
blog sites;
b) Use of ESVER Office Administrative Services name or logo in
any promotional materials without the proper authorization,
4 Any reckless, negligent or intentional act or omission that leads to Serious to Grave
or is capable of causing damage, destruction or loss property
belonging to the Company, its employees, clients, guests or service
providers. Including but not limited to:
a) Failure to protect mobile devices containing Company
information.
5 Unauthorized use or possession of property or resources belonging Serious to Grave
to the Company, client, employees, service providers or guests; or
any unauthorized act which commits such resources to other
individuals or entities
6 Any act (or attempted act) to: Grave
a) Misappropriate ESVER Office Administrative Services/client
funds;
b) Claim fraudulent benefits and expenses;
c) Steal money, property or anything of value from the Company;
client, other employees or Company visitors.
d) Falsify official document/records/invoice/receipts, etc., with
the intent to deceive.
7 Other cases analogous to the foregoing Depending on the
gravity of the act

E. Health, Safety and Physical Security

The Company is committed to maintaining a safe and non-threatening workplace. Any disregard of health,
safety or security measures is in contravention of our Code of Business Ethics, policies and guidelines. Acts of
misconduct in relation to Health, Safety and Physical Security include, but are not limited to the following:
1 Disregard of office regulations on safety, sanitation and orderly Serious to Grave
conditions of the workplace such as but not limited to:
a) Playing or tampering with fire extinguishers, fire alarms or
smoke detectors
b) Unauthorized use of the fire exit stairwells
c) Unauthorized access to restricted areas
d) Tampering with any security and safety devices

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2 Non-compliance with Company and client security policy Minor to Serious

requirements, such as but not limited to:
a) Failure to badge in and out of Company premises or work place
upon entry or exit;
b) Failure to comply with Clear Desk/Clear Screen policy;
c) Use or possession of prohibited or unauthorized items in the
work area (please refer to the Philippines DC and/or
project/deal-specific security policy for the details).
3 Refusal to comply with the health and wellness regulations of the Minor to Serious
Company such as but not limited to:
a) Failure or refusal to undergo the prescribed annual physical
medical check-up or to undertake medical examinations as
prescribed by accredited Company physicians.
4 Violating the Company’s health and wellness regulations by Serious
smoking in “non-smoking” or unauthorized areas.
5 Non-disclosure of having been diagnosed with an infectious Serious to Grave
disease or reporting for work while knowingly suffering from an
infectious illness.
6 Any act performed to enable oneself or others to enter or gain Serious to Grave
access to Company or client areas without the appropriate
authorization.
7 Any act that would endanger the life and safety of other Grave
employees such as but not limited to:
a) Possession or use of firearms, explosives or other dangerous or
illegal items within work premises or during Company-
sponsored events;
b) Intentionally reporting false information to the Company such
as calling with bomb threats
8 Other cases analogous to the foregoing Depending on the
gravity of the act

F. Information Security

Information security is the responsibility of everyone associated with the Company who has access to and use
of Company systems and data or data entrusted to the Company by clients or other third parties. Non-
compliance with Company policies regarding information security could pose significant and legal risk to the
Company. Compliance with all Company and client security-related policies is mandatory. Examples of non-
compliance with information security policies include, but are not limited to:
1 Failure to adhere to Company security policies and procedures on Minor to Serious
physical assets such as but not limited to:
a) Unauthorized bringing in of personal laptops;
b) Violations against project specific security policies on data
classification and handling guidelines such as proper labelling.
2 Failure to immediately escalate security incidents or policy Minor to Serious
violations to the appropriate teams such as but not limited to:
a) Unintentional introduction of viruses and failure to
immediately log off from the Company network and report the
incident.

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3 Revealing or disclosing, whether intentionally or unintentionally or Serious to Grave

negligently, to any unauthorized persons confidential information
of ESVER Office Administrative Services and/or its clients, including
but not limited to:
a) Propriety information;
b) Operational or transactional information;
c) Trade secrets;
d) Clients’ and employees’ personal information;
e) Information related to administrative proceedings;
f) All other information described, considered or treated as
confidential.
4 Disclosure of Company’s personal account passwords or use of Serious to Grave
another Company/client-assigned personal account information
and security codes, or condoning/giving orders to commit such
acts.
5 Unauthorized accessing, downloading, duplication, dealing with, Serious to Grave
storing or possession of confidential Company or client
information, or an attempt to do any of the aforementioned acts
such as but not limited to:
a) Attempt to store Company information on personal storage
devices;
b) Storing client information on local drives on PCs.
6 Any intentional or unintentional use of Company or client Serious to Grave
resources that violates the information security policies and
regulations of ESVER Office Administrative Services and/or its
clients, such as but not limited to:
a) Intentional introduction of viruses/malware;
b) Hacking;
c) Alteration of ESVER Office Administrative Services information
systems and security tools USB controls;
d) Installation/downloading/use of unauthorized software;
e) Unauthorized downloading, storage or transmission of
audio/video files, unless artist has expressed permission for
their usage.
7 Other cases analogous to the foregoing Depending on the
gravity of the act

Note:
Any act analogous to the offenses enumerated in this set of rules and regulations shall be subject to
penalty as determined by the Company.
The Company reserves the right to determine classification of an offense. An offense may be classified
under one or more headings or categories.

Prepared by:

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Jasmin Mae P. Arsolon

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